Nigeria’s Banking Industry: First City Monument Bank

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) is part of a larger banking group, the First City Group, which offers a near-full range of financial services to millions of Nigerians. Its services can be accessed from hundreds of branches spread all over the country, and remotely via electronic means.

The bank has fashioned a brand for itself that is hard to misidentify. From its purple and yellow logo to its peculiarly styled classical buildings, it draws the sight of the aesthete wherever it establishes its presence.

FCMB’s total assets were valued at over $5 billion as at March 2018.

History of FCMB

First City Monument Bank prides itself as the first bank to be established in Nigeria without foreign or government help. It was carved out of City Securities Limited, a financial services firm, in 1982. It commenced operations the following year, after being granted a banking license.

In 2004, FCMB became a public limited liability company and was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange at the end of that year. It grew steadily from then on; by 2010, it was in the position to acquire a stake in Finbank, after the recapitalization drive was initiated by AMCON. It took over Finbank in 2012.

Products and Services

FCMB operates personal, corporate, and SME banking services with product packages designed for different market segments.

Individuals can set up a range of accounts with it. Some of the standout ones are the Flexx account for youths (persons aged 16 to 30), which gives its holders the opportunity to attend entrepreneurship or employability forums; the Kids account, for children aged 0-15 years; and the domiciliary savings account, a foreign currency account that yields a monthly interest for its holders.

FCMB has a loan facility, FCMB Fast Cash, which can be requested for and received without paper documentation or physical submission. All that’s required to obtain a loan with this service is a USSD code, which a customer may dial on their phones when they want to access the service.

The bank targets SMEs with tailor-made loan and credit schemes. In recent times, it has targeted female entrepreneurs with a zero-interest loan. It also has a number of traditional SME banking products, such as import documentation, letters of credit, and other trans-national trade services.

FCMB also provides debt and equity capital raising services, infrastructure and project finance, and financial advisory to large corporations.

Featured image source: Castles NG

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ikenna-nwachukwu

Ikenna Nwachukwu holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He loves to look at the world through multiple lenses- economic, political, religious and philosophical- and to write about what he observes in a witty, yet reflective style.

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